3. Caffeine: Coffee is good for more than just a jolt in the morning. A study in the International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism found that consuming caffeine an hour before you hit the gym can help you burn about 15 percent more calories than normal. What’s more, other research has found that sipping on the stimulant before the gym can help you eat fewer calories afterward.
What about the calories? When they avoided eating between the hours of 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., participants reduced their daily calorie intake by an average of 238 calories. Which helps to explain the weight loss of almost half a pound a week. Interestingly, their intake of fat decreased significantly while protein and carbohydrate decreased at a more conservative rate. This leads one to believe that the subjects were not eating grilled chicken and broccoli late at night. No, their usual late-night snacks were much higher in fat.
Eat small meals more often. In simple terms, eating spurs your metabolism — the process by which your body turns food into energy. Eating more often, then, may kick your metabolism into a higher gear more times per day (e.g., if you eat six times a day, you get six “spikes”). But, you must make sure that eating more often does not also mean eating more; it’s essential that you reduce your overall average daily calories.[3]
I agree with Karina - if I were to calculate my daily calorie requirements based on your figures above (I’m somewhere between an echo and meso) I’d get fat using the lowest figure. Your calculations take no account of age and activity level inside or outside of the gym. I prefer to use a TDEE calculator to calculate my daily calorie needs (there you can add age, activity level, current body fat levels if known etc, for a far more accurate figure), and would suggest anyone looking to lose fat do the same and then come back to this article for information on macros etc.

So what happened? The average weight change was a loss of nearly 0.9 pound during the two weeks of nighttime fasting and a gain of approximately 1.3 pounds during the control period. While mood didn’t seem to be affected during the two weeks of restriction, participants in this group reported being much hungrier upon waking. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, given that hunger in the morning is likely to inspire you to consume the most important meal of the day (i.e. breakfast).

The brain signals fat cells to release the energy packages, or fatty acid molecules, to the bloodstream. The muscles, lungs and heart pick up these fatty acids, break them apart, and use the energy stored in the bonds to execute their activities. The scraps that remain are discarded as part of respiration, in the outgoing carbon dioxide, or in urine. This leaves the fat cell empty and renders it useless. The cells actually have a short lifespan so when they die the body absorbs the empty cast and doesn’t replace them. Over time, the body directly extracts the energy (i.e., calories) from food to the organs that need them instead of storing it first.
What about the calories? When they avoided eating between the hours of 7 p.m. to 6 a.m., participants reduced their daily calorie intake by an average of 238 calories. Which helps to explain the weight loss of almost half a pound a week. Interestingly, their intake of fat decreased significantly while protein and carbohydrate decreased at a more conservative rate. This leads one to believe that the subjects were not eating grilled chicken and broccoli late at night. No, their usual late-night snacks were much higher in fat.
The sugar contained in fruit is called fructose. Many people have come to believe that fructose is bad for you and will promote fat gain. This is simply not true. Fructose metabolizes differently than other types of sugar but it is still a great choice for carbohydrates. Fructose will restore liver glycogen levels quickly and muscle glycogen stores slowly. Although fructose is technically a sugar it does not cause a spike in blood sugar like many other sugars. This makes fruit and excellent choice for daily consumption.
According to a small study published in the journal Annals of Internal Medicine, people who slept for 8.5 hours a night for two weeks lost nearly twice as much weight on average than participants who slept 5.5 hours per night, despite the fact that they followed the same diet and workout plan. That's because when you get a good night's sleep, your hunger hormones, like ghrelin and leptin, stay in check. That means you're not going to wake up with a sudden hankering for a bacon, egg, and cheese. (Start working towards your goals with Women's Health's Body Clock Diet.)
There have been major obstacles along the way-mostly ones of my own doing and past disordered thoughts that pop up, but I have stayed the course. I have learned the program, asked questions, posted pics of myself after working out, shared in the group and gained so much support along the way. It has kept my mind in a healthy place. I was worried at the beginning that this wouldn't work just like so many other programs before it. But when I woke up this morning, I actually didn't care what the numbers were, I know I am not stopping now. Whatever they say, I will keep going, keep investing in me and investing in my family. I am a different me than I was 6 weeks ago, not just physically but mentally. I feel stronger and braver than I ever have. So thank you for this opportunity to be part of this program. It saved me in ways you may never know!
4. Meditate daily: A study from the University of California, San Francisco found that meditating for just 30 minutes a day can reduce belly fat by way of reducing stress levels (remember that cortisol/fat connection). Plus, a regular mindfulness or meditation practice can help you eat less calories overall and cave less to cravings and emotional eating (and all those processed ingredients that wreak havoc on your fat-regulating hormones).
Since only two HIIT sessions should be performed per week another type of cardio will be needed for the rest of the cardio sessions throughout the week. MISS (Moderate Intensity Steady State) cardio is the perfect type of cardio to fill in any remaining cardio that needs to be performed during the week. This will burn a great amount of calories while sacrificing very little muscle tissue and burning fat through different pathways from the HIIT.

2. Decline Bench Sit Up Ceiling Touches: This great exercise works on your shoulder, abs and lower back. Sit on the bench with the weight on your lap. As you move backwards, lock your arms and raise the weight above your body. Touch your back to the bench and use your abs to sit up. As you sit up you should keep your arms and weight pointed to the ceiling.

The prevailing formula for a long time on how much fat you’re going to burn was calories in minus calories out, based on your basal metabolic rate (BMR) and exercise efforts, explains strength and performance specialist Joel Seedman, Ph.D., owner of Advanced Human Performance in Atlanta. But with all the different biochemical reactions in the body, hormonal response, and endocrine function, there are an infinite number of factors that can affect how your body is storing and breaking down calories.